Release of volatiles from cubic phases: Monitoring by gas sensors

Structured fluids such as emulsions and liquid crystalline mesophases can be used to control aroma release. This study shows that the use of a gas sensor array coupled with pattern recognition analysis can be particularly useful in studying volatile profiles. A mixture of 8 carefully selected volatile, hydrophilic and hydrophobic compounds was entrapped in 4 different matrices: water, lipids (sunflower oil, unsaturated monoglycerides), emulsion (20% wt water) and cubic phases (20 and 30% wt water). A clear discrimination between the release pattern of the different matrices has been measured by the sensor array system. It has been shown that the cubic phase release patterns is not only controlled by its composition but also depended strongly on the lipid/water interfacial area. The combined use of structured fluids (structure-release relationship) and sensor arrays allows to control and to distinguish the release patterns of volatiles.